Day-to-day adventures

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A few weeks back I decided to take a much needed 3-day weekend. The months after the holidays always drain me as the there are no longer countdowns to the next few days off, no more anticipation or excitement surrounded by family, no holiday parties to look forward to and a general lack of the cheer and joy found around town during that time. As I was staring at my calendar and my next holiday or vacation wasn’t going to fall until Memorial Day, I figured it would be good for the soul to catch up on some much needed R&R and spend some quality time with Pete.

I love trying new food and drinks but exist in an odd sort of introversion in that I hate crowds. Trying a new restaurant on a Friday night? Count me out. The wait and drones of fellow dinner-goers about pushes me over edge and can pretty quickly ruin a culinary experience for me (see also my review of {The Blind Butcher}). So over the years I’ve accumulated quite a list of places I’d like to try “someday” and by “someday” I mean during I time when I can comfortably find a seat and enjoy my company.

Having some free time to check some locations off the Dallas Eatery Bucket List? Sounds like a winner date to me!

We started the morning with a trip to {Ascension Coffee} off of Oak Lawn. Wood decor filled with bright red chairs, chill music and tons of folks having business meetings, I was informed by the barista that they had taken a step “back to basics” so there wouldn’t be an specialty lattes or frozen drinks in sight. I stuck with a class chai latte and HOLY SMOKES it was so amazing. The rim of spices perfectly complimented my cream cheese danish and made for freakin’ amazing morning coffee!

And what would be a date day in Texas without BBQ? We made our way over to the {Dallas Farmer’s Market} to stand in the long line down Shed 2 for the much raved about {Pecan Lodge}. The 1-hour wait (arriving 15 minutes after opening) wasn’t even close to a waste once I tasted The “Hot Mess”. Chipotle mayo…and that’s all I have to say about that.
Pete took the classic route and ordered some of their handmade sausage which was out of this stinkin’ world! We were so stuffed (even without sides) that we both took 1/2 our meal home. And, go figure, it made totally amazing leftovers too.

And to successfully finish the day? More coffee of course! We headed up Lower Greenville to the gothic-esque {Mudsmith} to enjoy Caramel-Vanilla lattes and espresso. The hip crowd was perfectly complimented by the animal busts lining the walls and beers readily on tap for afternoon visitors. Not quite as friendly and fun as Ascension but the stellar coffee, quiet atmosphere and small porch area made up for shortage of amazing customer service.

Stuffed and highly caffeinated, Pete and I decided to call it an early afternoon. And a date done before 3:00pm on a Friday? That’s a win in my book!